TORRANCE TRIBUNE December 28, 2017 Page 3 Up and Adam Torrance Schools Enjoy Another Fantastic Year of Athletics in 2017 By Adam Serrao Time flies when you’re having fun and there is certainly no doubting the fact that the athletes in high schools around the city of Torrance had their share of fun throughout the year of 2017. It’s amazing that the year has already approached its ending, but it hasn’t done so without some amazing memories being made along the way. As usual, the athletes from Torrance High, South High, West High and North High all took turns providing their schools and their fans with amazing displays of athleticism that won’t be soon forgotten. Now, with the year coming to a close, it is as good a time as any to take a look back at those defining moments and the athletes who worked so tirelessly to achieve them. Though this year’s basketball season is once again underway, who can forget the team from West High that took the Pioneer League by storm one year ago? A team that opened the year on a three-game winning streak showed early on that it had what it took to eventually take home a Pioneer League championship under head coach Neal Perlmutter. The Warriors’ success didn’t end with that championship, either. The basketball team, led by Noah Carroll, Brandon Thomas, and Ricky Turner at the time, took to the playoffs and caught fire. Three straight postseason victories landed West in the CIF Southern Section Division 4AA championship game against the Blair Vikings. Behind 30 points from breakout star Alex Mishaw, the Warriors came away with a 65-54 victory for the school’s first-ever boys’ basketball championship. West High fans can continue to expect amazing play from Mishaw, who is only in his junior year with the Warriors this season. The Torrance Tartars boys’ baseball team may have taken home the Pioneer League crown in the division, but it was the South High Lady Spartans softball team that stole the show last year. Under head coach Tony Flores, the Lady Spartans lost only seven games all season long on their way to a Pioneer League championship. Little did players like star pitcher Maddy Stockslager know that the team’s divisional championship wasn’t the only one that South High was in store for this year. Behind Stockslager’s brilliant pitching prowess, the Lady Spartans mowed teams down in the postseason. Four victories later, including a semifinal win over its rivals from West High, South found itself in the Division 5 championship game against Heritage Christian. Stockslager pitched all seven innings and struck out 14 batters on her team’s way to a championship victory. The Lady Warriors (22- 8, 5-3) may have had a great season in their own right behind the play of Mailee Newman, but in the end it was the Spartans who beat out their rivals and all others on their way to a CIF softball championship. Under the bright lights on the football field, it was the North High Saxons stealing the show last season. Behind senior quarterback Sean Sigala and the elite play of running back Saeed Galloway, the Saxons rallied for an 8-3 record and went undefeated in league play (5- 0) to capture a Pioneer League championship. Unfortunately for North, a loss in the first round of the playoffs soon followed, but ending the regular season with a six-game winning streak was certainly just one way that the Saxons displayed their dominance in 2017. The South High Spartans showed utter dominance in both the sports of volleyball and soccer in 2017. The boys’ volleyball team put up a remarkable 29-6 record under head coach Aaron Saldana and not only took home a Pioneer League championship, but also made it to the Division 2 semifinals. Not to be outdone by the boys, the Lady Spartans took home a Pioneer League championship of their own with an 18-15 record while riding the hot play of team captains Lizzy Smith and Kristen Fritsche. South’s dominance in volleyball may not have yielded any CIF championships, but the Lady Spartans soccer team certainly made up for that. Not only did South High’s girls’ soccer go 22-1-2 on the year, but it also dominated the Division 3 playoffs on the way to a 1-0 CIF championship victory over Claremont. Senior forward Claire Grouwinkle led the team all season long on offense and scored the team’s lone goal in the 1-0 championship victory in overtime. The South High boys’ soccer team (21-2-2) dominated the Pioneer League on the way to a divisional title of its own--but despite the excellent performances of players like Will Hayward, Kohl Kutsch, and Dara Fakhfouri, the Spartans wound up losing in the third round of the CIF playoffs. The city of Torrance and its high schools create far too many memories on a year-to-year basis to all be listed in just one article. With so many gifted athletes, coaches and teams, it is simply impossible to list every single meaningful moment. For instance, who can forget about the West High Warriors boys’ cross country team that became the first in school history to capture a state title? Certainly not Rory Abberton, Andrew Hazzard, Ryan Vo or any of the other runners who contributed to a team that made history and held their own parade that went down the streets of Torrance in honor of their victory. Each year brings with it the unique ability to make memories with remarkable performances in any and every sport from football to track and field. Sure, it may be sad that 2017 is over and yet another year has zoomed right past us all. The arrival of 2018, though, is sure to bring with it just as many invaluable memories and remarkable performances from new and experienced athletes just the same. – Aserrao6@yahoo.com • Calendar of Events Deadline for Calendar items is the prior Thursday by noon. Calendar items are $1 per word. Email listings to marketing@ heraldpublications.com. We take Visa and MasterCard. THURSDAY, DEC. 28 • All Torrance Libraries – CLOSED for New Year FRIDAY, DEC. 29 • All Torrance Libraries – CLOSED for New Year SATURDAY, DEC. 30 • Torrance Certified Farmers’ Market at Wilson Park, 8:00 AM. – 1:00 PM., 2200 Crenshaw Blvd., Between Carson St. & Sepulveda, Call: 310-781-7520. • All Torrance Libraries – CLOSED for New Year SUNDAY, DEC. 31 • HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE!! • All Torrance Libraries – CLOSED for New Year MONDAY, JAN. 1 • HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!! • All Torrance Libraries – CLOSED for New Year TUESDAY, JAN. 2 • Torrance Certified Farmers’ Market at Wilson Park, 8:00 AM. – 1:00 PM., 2200 Crenshaw Blvd., Between Carson St. & Sepulveda, Call: 310-781-7520. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 3 • Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Group, 8:00 PM. – 9:00 PM., Katy Geissert Civic Center Library, 3301 Torrance Blvd. Call: 310-618-5950. THURSDAY, JAN. 4 • Environmental Quality Commission , 7:00 PM. – 9:00 PM., Commission Meeting Room, 3031 Torrance Blvd. • Health Care Law from front page dollars for a single trip--even when the trip starts at an in-network hospital,” the news division of Kaiser said. Ambulance charges that Kaiser reviewed ranged from $3,600 to $8,400. Patients and their families who call 911 are vulnerable because it’s an emergency and they don’t get to choose which ambulance company responds. The Kaiser team said its review of complaints about ambulance company bills found two common scenarios. In the first scenario. a patient is taken by ambulance to the hospital after a 911 call. The second and less common occurrence happens when an ambulance service transfers a patient between hospitals. “In both scenarios, patients later learn the fee is much higher because the ambulance was out-of-network, and after their insurer pays what it deems fair, they get a surprise bill for the balance,” Kaiser’s team said. City fire departments also provide emergency ambulance service, including El Segundo that bills $1,850 to respond to a 911 call and transport to the hospital. El Segundo residents have complained in letters to the Herald about the paramedic-ambulance charge being too high, especially to older residents who live on fixed incomes. The transport fee issue in El Segundo was raised by several residents who wrote letters ahead of the 2016 City Council election. The City has three emergency ambulances in service, including two new vehicles that cost $406,000. They replaced two older emergency vehicles because of rising maintenance and repair costs. The gap in “balance billing” protection for consumers is sizable, the Kaiser Foundation found. Sixty-one percent of privately insured employees are covered by self-funded employer-sponsored plans, it reported. Unless the Legislature expands the consumer protection for all health plans, ambulance company complaints will continue. Kaiser’s team reported that ambulance companies can charge by the mile and add on costs for oxygen and other services during the ride to the hospital. If paramedics staff the ambulance rather than emergency medical technicians, then that will hike up the bill charge. Kaiser added, “Even if the patient didn’t need paramedic-level services…” The 26 ambulance companies found online that serve the South Bay don’t discuss fees on their websites, making it difficult to view local pricing even for the most basic emergency call. The California Department of Managed Health Care welcomed the patient protection measure in July. The department said AB 72 took the consumer out of the middle of billing disputes between a health care facility and insurance plans for out-of-network charges. Consumer groups had complained the billing practice was unfair. Ambulances and diagnostic labs are both covered under the consumer protection law, yet they’re so different, said the Kaiser foundation that studied 350 billing complaints from 32 states. The patient and families have little control over who provides the emergency service, unless it’s in a city like El Segundo. “Patients usually choose to go to the doctor, but they are vulnerable when they call 911, or get into an ambulance,” Kaiser’s team found. “The dispatcher picks the ambulance crew, which, in turn, often picks the hospital.” Patients who show up at an out-of-network hospital might be facing expensive medical bills, even if they are later transferred to their health plan’s hospital of choice. Some of the patients who asked the Kaiser foundation to intervene in their billing disputes wanted the charges lowered. Others thought they should be charged nothing. An expectation of free medical emergency The six-month-old law didn’t stop surprise medical bills for ambulance services. See Health Care Law, page 6 “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” – Oprah Winfrey
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